The Naruto Bunch
by DarkestMagician
Summary: When arriving back in the Leaf village after passing the Jounin exams; Naruto meets up with Iruka for a celebration at Ichirakus what naruto doesnt know is hes been assigned the position of training 3 academy graduates. New story and future pairings R/R:D
1. Chapter 1

(A/N) I didn't get a chance to put authors notes in this chapter when I put this out due to not having enough time. (since it was late and I had school in 5 hours eh) anyway I'd like to welcome you all to read my story. Please review if you like it. Please review if you don't and why I like to know what I botched or what I could do better on so those of you that do review I'll thank you so much and try to do something in my power to reward you.

The Naruto Bunch.

"YEAH! WE PASS!" Shouted Rai Kosuki, a former leaf village academy student whom had jumped up, and pumped his fist in the air with excitement. Rai was a hotshot for sure dressed in green short sleeve collard shirt and white shorts with blue stripes. His hair was very goofy yet it was a nice light brown color. Matching eyes made him stand out

Iruka; a long time veteran when it came to teaching students was surprisingly amused by Rai's shouting for once. Not to say Iruka was finally done with him and he could kick poor Rai out of school and wouldn't have to see him again ever. But because Rai reminded him of his favourite misfit ninja. "Settle down Rai just because you're a Genin now doesn't mean you don't have to do hard work." Iruka reinformed Rai for possibly the last time with a smile now instead of a irritated face.

"As you are all Genin now, I'll bring in your new forehead protectors, during this time you may talk with all your friends and colleagues." Iruka had learned to let his students talk themselves out. When he closed the door on his way out; he heard a roar of happy new Genins all in approvement of their test results. Rai had probably made most of the noise, Iruka figured based on his experience, and similarities favourite student. "That reminds me I have to meet him at Ichiraku's for ramen." He said to himself out loud.

"Calm down Rai we all passed." A student besides Rai who has his legs kicked up on the desk and who seemed to have been napping sleepily said. The boy was dressed in a long red turtle neck sweater with a black jacket on top. His loose sweat pants barely fit regulations as they almost covered his ninja sandals. His hair had been well kept with the exception of the two bangs that hung out from the front of his head reaching over his eyes to his chest in swirls of black and brown.

"But Amane!" Rai interjected being a good friend of Amane's. Rai looked quite dorky with that smile he made when he became extremely happy.

"No buts Rai" Amane flip his hair covering his face to make eye contact with Rai his eyes were a piercing blue. His face was serious, with an almost death-glare but suddenly, and unexpectedly it morphed into a very content face. "We're Genin now and should act like it." Rai seemed to have lost a bit of his cool to Amane's statement. "Besides if we do that; then your parents will be even more proud." Amane had added and it seemed to cool down Rai.

"You know Amane; you're probably right!" Rai exclaimed in a more calm tone. He shut his eyes to think about it, he imagined the looks on the faces of his parents, and he had that same dorky grin on his face the whole time.

Amane flipped back to try and get some shut eye in the now noisier class. "You know it." He said in response, slowly getting comfortable again. At that moment another student approached the two from the row ahead of them.

"Hey Rai, what's your note?" An inquisitive kunoichi turned around to address the very happy Rai although her gaze often wandered to the sleeping Amane. Rai laughed in approval and handed her his test. The girl's eyes sped over the test and looked back up to stare at Rai with a grim expression on her face. "Rai, you barely passed!" Rai's expression didn't change.

"I'm very lucky aren't I Asuka?" Rai leaned back with that same old smile they all knew with his arm over the back of his head in a relaxing pose. Asuka looked infuriated. Her silky bright orange hair in a short and layered style with a bun flared out in frustration. While her pose changed drastically. Her orange tank top with matching athlete wristbands seemed to have been lit on fire. While her black jogging pants seemed like almost crying out "OH NO NOT THIS AGAIN." Her face grew red like metal under a molten flame waiting for a complete and utter melt down.

"You're telling me!" She shouted although not loud enough to draw attention in the sea of talking students. At this moment Rai fell down on the floor in fear. "One more spelling mistake with Chakra and you would have to repeat another year!" She roared "Rai you are soo lucky to have passed you almost don't deserve to be a Genin! Why don't you be more like Amane who spends time studying?" Her attention switched to Amane and shed jumped up to the last row to see his marks. A+ as usual. She turned back to Rai who'd regained his posture. "See Rai." She held up Amane's note to show him.

Amane woke up from his nap and sat up to meet the two who'd been talking about him. "You know Asuka." He looked her in the eye with a smile. "I don't think it's very nice to just comment on Rai's note just so you can get close to me." He said keeping a straight face and smile. He knew he'd had a fan club of girls who had a crush on him. Asuka was part of that group.

Asuka's was pretty obvious he'd just called her out and what made her made was that Rai was laughing slightly at her embarrassment. "I'm sorry Amane." She apologized her eyes glazing madly at Rai who was laughing more now.

"Its fine Asuka but I'm not the one you should apologize to you did wrong to Rai." He said happily not with any hate or amusement to Asuka's position.

She turned to Rai. "I'm sorry Rai." She said with a bit of anger towards him.

"Thanks Asuka" He accepted her apology honestly without making fun of her.

"I appreciate what you did Asuka you gained a little respect from me." To Amane, respect was everything to him, he believe nobody was deserving of his respect unless they preformed things that impressed him. He'd been very opinionated about respect and often he hated when people thought they owned his respect just because of their important position. He once out spoke against the Hokage when during class when Iruka had said Lady Tsunade was deserving of all their respect with her accomplishments. Amane refused to have anything of that and when a test on the current Hokage came up he failed on purpose.

Just then Iruka came back in the class with a box of Genin forehead bands. All of them were practically right from the forge and had the symbol of the leaf clad on the shinny steel. "Back to your places everyone and stay silent." Iruka walked over to his desk as the students returned to their places. He put down the box and stood in the middle at attention the students paying attention to him stood up themselves and the others who weren't fallowed in line including Amane.

"It is with my pleasure to congratulate you all with your own Genin forehead protector. With it you shall represent the leaf not only as a ninja but also as a brother in arms to all leaf residents. This day belongs to you, as from here, you all shall take your own path that will lead you in many different directions. And I wish that perhaps someday we shall all meet up again in one piece as the road of a shinobi is always perilous. But I believe you will all pull through." Iruka ended his speech and then walked over to his desk with applause coming from all the students. "When I call your name please come and retrieve your forehead protector..."

After the ceremony Iruka got dressed up to leave the Academy. It had been raining hard during the afterhours but he knew that the rain wouldn't stop his favourite student and neither would it stop Iruka from going to the old Ramen stand that had been there since as long as he could remember.

Outside it was almost a warzone as the rain came in waves and pelted the ground he stood on turning it to mud. The sound of the rain bouncing off the ground and the shingles on the roofs of many homes and buildings seemed to have blocked out all other sound.

Iruka put the hood of his rain coat over his head and began the long trek to Ichiraku's in the falling buckets of rain. The travel had seemed a bit depressing as many streets seemed to be flooding already but Iruka steadily made his way to his rendezvous. When he finally arrived across the street from the ramen stand, his sorry eyes felt relieved as he made a rush for cover.

The owners had put up extra protection during the rain so as customers didn't get wet while they ate. This made the pelting he received from the rain less depressing. " Iruka-Sensei glad you made it." A familiar voice called to him. Iruka couldn't help but to smile as he saw Naruto once again.

"Yeah so am I Naruto." Iruka said taking a seat. Naruto had also been in a raincoat similar to his but under the coat he had been clad in a Jounin outfit. "So it seems I'm treating you again aren't I Naruto?" He said rhetorically mentioning his new outfit.

"You bet Iruka sensei." He said in a very Naruto-like manner. "But I cant help but to feel disappointed about the Jounin exams." He began. "After fighting the Akatsuki the hardest part was the written exam." He said in a low tone.

"Cheer up Naruto!" Iruka tried to pep him up. "Your twenty-one, you just became a Jounin, most of the night is young, and we have the best Ramen in the world!" Iruka said jokingly but everything had been true and Naruto smiled out of his mood. "Ayame two bowls of pork ramen please." Iruka signalled the young waitress who nodded and both her and her father got to work cooking a feast. It was safe to say they never underestimated Naruto when it came to ramen.

"So Naruto have you been informed of your next assignment yet?" Iruka asked him.

"I just got back from the exams Iruka-sensei I have yet to go report into grandma Tsunade." He said with a mischievous smile. "But now that you mention it what is my next assignment?" Naruto suddenly went from his old grin to a puzzled face.

"You mean you don't know?" Iruka laughed. "Lady Tsunade told us you would be tasked with a new Genin squad.

"What?!" Naruto jumped from his seat and looked at Iruka in disbelief . " Your joking Iruka-Sensei!" He laughed. "I almost fell for your joke." He sat back down and rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"No Naruto I'm serious." Iruka kept a straight face but Naruto's face dropped like a pile of bricks. "You've been assigned the new squad seven." Iruka said seriously.

"No way!" Naruto cried out loud in disbelief again. "I just became a jounin and I wanted to do a few A-class missions before something like this happened." Naruto moped around now.

"Naruto will be Naruto and that wont change." Iruka reminisced. "Naruto don't worry you train your three Genin up and you'll be one step closer to Hokage." He admitted cheering up the always energetic Naruto.

"Your right Iruka now let's eat." Naruto held up a bowl of his favourite ramen in the world and-

"Naruto a tip of advice that we teachers use when training students is; everything you do in any shape or form can be used to train people. I think in your case this will be quite helpful.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked out of a little frustration to Iruka's last sentence.

"Nothing Naruto." He laughed. "Just remember what I said about training; you'll know when the time is right." Iruka then proceeded to eat his ramen which had been staring at him for a while now. Naruto dug in as well.

(A/N so how was my first chapter on my new story hopefully by now you want to see more hopefully I'll have it up soon probably tomorrow if fallout doesn't take to much of my attention. Also I do have most of the second chapter done just need to write the last few essential parts before I post it. Anyway please read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

(A/n) this took longer than expected to put out and when I finished writing the damn thing I couldn't help myself but to put it up before thoroughly revising so if you cant understand some parts then I'm sorry. But I still hope you'll enjoy: D

Chapter 2 of the Naruto Bunch

It had been weeks since Naruto sleeped in a real bed. As he laid there that night, the storm had lightened up since he got home. He'd been tossing and turning. He just couldn't manage to fall asleep. He'd been thinking too much of what was going to happen tomorrow. Besides the fact that Tsunade was going to kill him for not reporting in as soon as he got back, but he also had to manage training a Genin squad with no preparation at all. However Naruto wasn't known for preparation and organization.

He admitted with all his skill and jutsu he was a great fighter; but he failed the Genin training part of the Jounin written exam. But what was he going to do? He asked himself the question many times as he twisted around to get comfortable. Before he managed to find out what he was going to do, he managed to get comfortable and dropped like a rock.

''Naruto!'' Naruto had woken to the sound of yelling in his ears, he rubbed his eyes and looked over to the side where the voice came from.

''Who are you?'' He really wished he'd recognized that person before ''BAM!'' Naruto was suddenly thrown against his own wall with the force of tremendous strength. That he recognized. It was Sakura. He didn't notice her because she was in medical apparel from the hospital and not her usual style of clothing.

''Naruto what are you still doing in bed?'' Sakura's voice was obviously infuriated. '' You were suppost to report in to Lady Tsunade when you got back.'' Sakura sighed and looked at the rudely awoken Naruto whose p-jamas were wrinkled with fear, his hair was messier than usual, and his eyes were wildly awake and focused on her.

''But Sakura I only just got back a few hours ago.'' He lied trying to save himself from her wrath.

Sakura wasn't convinced. ''Iruka-sensei told me you had dinner with him at Ichiraku's at six last night.'' She gave him a devilish smile clearly pointing out her intentions of making his day a bad one.

''Aw common Sakura give me a break I just got back, I'm all dirty, and tired. The last thing I wanted to do last night was go see grandma Tsunade and give her a long debriefing of what happened.'' He pleaded to her. Sakura's face changed from that evil smile she had before to a normal smile that told Naruto that he was save. His expression lightened and he smiled back. Randomly Sakura punched him against the wall again!

'' That's for not saying hi when you got back Naruto!'' Sakura yelled while recovering from punching him. Sakura always felt good after punching Naruto…

…Naruto fastened his forehead protector to his head and got dressed up in his new Jounin uniform; it made him feel much more respected then with his Chuunin vest. Those that knew his father would say he practically mirrored the fourth Hokage except the whiskers part.

During this time Sakura was waiting outside to 'escort' Naruto to the Hokage tower whether he liked it or not. She'd be giggling since she heard he would be a Jounin instructor to his own Genin before having a chance to rejoin Anbu or doing some Jounin appropriate missions. Although deep down inside Sakura had pity for Naruto and his three unlucky students. She knew what happened last time when Naruto led Konohamaru's squad of academy students up the mountain during the Genin and academy student training program. Needless to say Naruto failed miserably.

'' Hey Sakura, let's get going.'' Naruto exited from his apartment. Sakura nodded and the two went to meet up with Lady Tsunade. Thankfully Naruto didn't squirm while getting there. He always tried to slow them down by offering a date with all expenses paid. She felt that Naruto had matured a lot since his Genin days.

On arrival to the Hokage's tower; Sakura trusted Naruto to make it up to Lady Tsunade himself and she returned to the hospital to work. Although Naruto matured he still stalled a little going up to Tsunade's office. One thing that scared him more than Sakura's strength was Tsunade's strength and her infamous anger. In fact the scariest thing on the planet for him was both of them going on a rampage!

By this time he made it up to Tsunade's office. With a little hesitation he knocked on the door. And then literally hell broke loose. Not only did Naruto get smacked hard enough by the door but he was also thrown back to the wall. '' Hello Naruto please come in and take a seat.'' Tsunade appeared on the other end of the door sporting an aggravated smile. A couple of Anbu that were watching were lucky not to be in his shoes.

______________________________________________________________________________

Naruto took his seat in front of the fifth Hokage; Tsunade had been less than amused by Naruto's antics today and that was clear in her body language, you know if the twitching eyebrow wasn't enough for you. ''Naruto as a Jounin you need to start taking responsibility of a Jounin ninja.'' She said clearly yet surprisingly calmly. Naruto still hadn't recovered from his first beating from Sakura and not to mention his most recent one and he was doing all possible to prevent a third.

''Yes lady Tsunade.'' Naruto mentally stabbed himself for kissing up to her. ''I'll take responsibility to report to you after a mission.'' He said Tsunade smirked knowing that it wouldn't happen but having him suck up to her was apology enough.

''Now Naruto; are you up to speed with your assignment?'' She asked referring to the night before with Iruka.

''No Iruka didn't say a lot about, just saying I was going to be leading a Genin squad before being able to rejoin Anbu black ops!'' He lamented. '' I beg you lady Tsunade just put me back on Anbu and I'll never call you grandma ever again!'' He promised.

'' Naruto, this is more important because of the lack of volunteering Jounin, and I can't really trust you doing A-class missions.'' Tsunade explained Naruto's hope of getting out of this Genin mess had been crushed under Tsunade's iron boot. ''However Naruto if you train three Genin I'll put you in Anbu again or where ever you want that's under my command.'' Tsunade tried to appeal to him coming to a '_compromise_'. Naruto seemed to have liked this agreement.

''Okay grandma I'll train these Genin but you better keep your promise.'' Naruto made her promise.

''Alright Naruto, now for that briefing on the Jounin exams and then you should go meet your Genin team at the Academy.''

Outside the academy the graduated students had returned for one final day. All of them wore their forehead protectors proud as a great achievement. All of the students were doing their own thing just getting a little fresh air before heading in the academy. Some of the students were taking in the sights one last time, others were chatting with their friends saying their good lucks, and others just relaxed. Like a peculiar two under a tree.

Those two would be Rai and Amane. Rai was sitting down with his knees crossed his messy hair blowing in the wind and his forehead protector gleaming in the sun. Amane had just been next to him lazing against the tree staring up into the tree above them, watching the leaves bristle with the wind and those that fell from that wooden perch danced their way to the ground Amane had been paying close attention with those movements.

Rai on the other hand was almost impatient waiting for class to start. He knew today they'd be split into groups of three meet their Jounin sensei. However this particular time he was struck with the realisation that he may not end up being with his best friend. He quickly turned over to Amane blocking his view of the leaves with that concerned face he often had when he needed a question answered.

''Hey Rai what'cha need?'' Amane said unmoving.

''Amane am I going to be with you when we are all split into teams?' he asked with a sincere look.

''We could be, we may not be, and if we aren't we'll still be friends.'' Amane said truthfully with a smirk. Rai smiled in return he believed in Amane and those words stuck to him like glue.

Soon after, the bell rang, and all the students had ceased their chatting, talking, playing, and or relaxing to proceed into their last academy class for the rest of their life. Inside the class room everyone was in their places, there was hot tension that surround the atmosphere of the class room. No one spoke or even uttered a word.

Iruka was late this morning nobody could tell why but that was the reason there'd been so much tension. They were anxious to finish here and move on to Jounin instructors and the like. When Iruka entered the class he entered with a smile, it was as if he could feel the tension from the class a mile away, and had tried to lighten the mood with that smile. But he hurriedly got in position to speak to them all.

"Good morning class, I'd like to thank you all for coming despite it being the last day" He joked; they all had to be there or face some consequences. "Now I will name three of you and you three will proceed to a pre-selected class to meet you Jounin instructor." He explained to them with no need to gain their attention since they had all been staring at him like hawks eying its prey.

Rai had been staring but he'd been in deep thought and thus defeated the purpose of staring at all, since being in deep thought meant he wasn't paying attention. He passed numerous scenarios in his head. "What will I do if I'm not with Amane?" he desperately thought. "Amane had been his only true friend to him and most other people befriended him on false purposes. He tried to grab attention all the time trying to see if it would cause other people to think that he was an okay guy. But they only laughed at him. "I mean if I'm stuck with all the guys that don't like me then I don't know what to do..."

"Team seven." Iruka said unusually loud as if he knew Rai wasn't paying attention. "…Rai Kosuke." This was it; this is where Rai would learn his fate. "Asuka Matsuda." Rai's heart clenched. "And Amane Kudara." Luck smiled on Rai. "Please go meet your Jounin sensei in room fourteen." Iruka instructed.

The three got up to leave and Amane smiled at Rai sheepishly. Asuka was giving looks to her girl friends about being with Amane trying to make them all jealous. And she succeeded to. Leaving the class the three of them were silent with their feelings about their combination. Rai was happy to be with his best friend. Asuka was practically in dream land, and Amane couldn't care less but he was happy to be with a friend rather then two unknowns.

Naruto sat there in room fourteen. Waiting for his squad to enter the room, it was almost the same class room he'd been in when he met Kakashi for the first time all those years ago. And if he's learned anything from that is that being late meant that you might be made a fool out of. And by being made a fool out of he means having a chalkboard eraser dropped on his head while entering the classroom late.

However; since Naruto got there earlier than most other Jounin, would he decided to play a prank on his new Genin students, or rather the unlucky one that got in first. Which would probably the most excited one and the most annoying one. "Better him than me." Naruto said to himself getting comfortable in one of the chairs in the room.

"You wanna go first Amane?" Rai asked his buddy. They had arrived at their designated classroom. Just through the next door would be their next step to becoming a true ninja.

"I suppose so." Amane said without half a thought. His body expression changed from it sleepy laid back position to a more normal and good first impression giving one. As he turned the knob into the room he could hear something snap and begin to wind up. He disregarded the sounds as old wood and poor mechanisms in the door. He continued on opening it putting on a friendly face. Then, when he was able to peer inside the room without the door, he saw three cream pies flying at him.

Without anywhere to move to avoid the pies, he was struck in the face. "What the?!" Amane shouted loudly for most in the area to hear. Naruto found this hilarious; a good old stress reliever from this mornings beatings. For Rai and Asuka, they were shocked as Amane reacted like he was attacked. When he turned around because he couldn't see they both broke out in uncontrollable laughter. Amane looked pile he decided to dip his head in a vat of cream pie and Rai was laughing so hard he was literally falling to the ground clutching his stomach. Asuka was still able to stand but barely.

Amane violently wiped off his face with his hand and that happy face he wanted to use was thrown out the window into the garbage he was probably madder then should be. When he saw Rai and Asuka nearly rolling around on the floor laughing he couldn't help but to laugh himself despite being in a near murderous mood.

Naruto was the first to stop laughing and quickly got up grabbing a towel to hive it to the unfortunate one whose face still somewhat resembled a pie itself. He walked over to him and gave him the towel. Amane was still laughing slightly and he had to admit it was funny and started whipping away the cream.

"Now that was your first lesson;" Naruto said with a good amount of laughter in his voice. "A ninja must always be on guard even if it is in a safe place." To be honest Naruto was winging this he really thought about lighting his mood and less about explaining why he pranked them. "Alright, then come inside and we'll talk." Naruto mentioned for them come inside the class.

All four of them had taken seats while the three Genin were facing the older taller Jounin that had just pranked them. Although Asuka and Rai were amused by the prank despite being that Amane was made a fool out of. Amane was stuck between deciding if he should be mad or amused by his failed attempt to make a good impression only to be made a fool out of instead.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I will be your Jounin instructor." Naruto presented himself giving one of those famous Naruto smiles of his. Naruto looked about the class once more getting a vibe of déjà vu and readdressed himself to them. "As much as this brings back memories of my academy days I bet you guys would rather be somewhere else right now than in this classroom."

(A/n) Now then I hoped you enjoyed the second chapter as much as I slaved over it. IT was a difficult write and I really hope I gets much smoother from here on out. Please review Guys I need the help to keep my mind going :D

-The darkestmagician at your service.


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N Crap I am a really good procrastinator, sorry for taking so long but I'll have you know I just doubled the length of the story. Btw school can be a real life killer, or motivation killer, or sucker whatever just read much more entertainment in that rather then reading me complain. -Darkest Magician A.G)

It was a sunny afternoon. The wind blew in from the forest carrying a pine sent to the academy roof. Clouds in the sky danced and transformed into many different shapes and forms that seemed to reflect with the happy day. The Leaf village was nearly sparkling with diversity in its colors and flared its individuality to its residents.

Naruto had beaten his new students to the roof and was taking a good look at the village in its glory. The wind blowing in his face felt refreshing and woke him up entirely. It made him happy to be home again.

When the Genin got to the roof with their instructor; Naruto mentioned for them to take a seat on the ledge or anywhere comfortable. Rai had wondered what his teacher was looking at so happily and stared down the hidden Leafs roads and avenues for something in particular.

"Sensei what are you looking at?" Rai asked inquisitively with a puzzled look strung to his face.

Naruto turned around and faced Rai "…When you deal with a lot of death; you see alot more beauty in the world." he responded with a smile. Rai didn't quite get what he meant but didn't bother to ask why. The other two also looked confused but didn't press either. Naruto addressed the three and sat down on the ledge he was just standing on. "I guess before we do anything we should get to know each other." Naruto knew he was going to have to thank Kakashi for having something to rely on other than making guesses on how to teach students.

"My name is Naruto Uzamaki; I just became a Jounin and I'm here to teach you to become good ninja if not the best!" He declared with perhaps a little too much confidence. "My hobbies are eating and cooking ramen; and training. I dislike people trying to hurt my friends and people who think they are better then the rest of us. Also my goal is to become Hokage." He knew it sounded cheesy but it was true. "Alright who's next?"

Rai was the first to raise his arm, almost immediately. Rai had always been impulsive and was never afraid to share what he had to say. "I'm Rai Kosuke!" He jumped up and declared. "My hobbies are playing, running, and climbing. I dislike lazy people and people who make fun of me. My goal is to make my parents proud!" He said proudly without a second thought or hesitation. Asuka giggled a bit on how ridiculously simple he was. She then stood up herself.

"My name is Asuka Matsuda." She tried to sound refined and upper class. "My hobbies are reading, studying, training, and physical exercise; aerobics mostly." This caught Naruto's attention because not many Genin found exercise as a hobby . "I dislike anything gross and disgusting" She gave a quick glance at Rai who was losing attention to her. Now that was cold Naruto admitted. "My goal is to make my clan the most powerful of the Hidden Leaf Village. That's all I have to say." She said determined and she took her seat again.

Amane straightened up and stared Naruto in the eyes. "My name is Amane; I'm the heir of the Kudara clan. My hobbies are training and helping people out. I greatly dislike people who demand respect from anybody and my goal is to become the best medical ninja and squad leader." He relaxed a bit and readdressed everyone. "Yes I realize it's a very demanding goal but I have my reasons." Amane then returned to his relaxed position breaking eye contact with everyone. To Naruto his goals seemed to be very down to earth and almost sounded like a career plan.

'These guys are a lot more interesting then my generation's Genin.' Naruto thought thinking back to his friends who really didn't have a real goal by becoming ninja. He stood up and looked at the three, Rai was distracted by some of the academy students playing in the court yard, Asuka was lost in thought, and Amane didn't seem to care about nothing but sleep and yes he managed to fall asleep pretty fast.

Naruto realized he was clearly loosing their attention. "Hey you three focus!" He shouted and the three franticly paid attention to him. It was quiet for a few seconds but then the growl of an empty stomach broke the silence. The red embarrassed cheeks of Rai betrayed him; a light bulb went off above Naruto's head. "I think I'm going to treat you three to lunch." Rai's face lighted up and Naruto started to feel a lump of change from Froggy disappear.

* * *

"That was great! I've never thought ramen would be this good!" Rai exclaimed happily his messy brown hair jumping around with his body. They were all at Ichiraku's ramen stand. Rai looked at his bowl with delight, Asuka looked like she was enjoying it herself, but Naruto wasn't looking so bright he just spent one of the largest pennies he had in a while.

"You've never tasted ramen before?" The young waitress asked him with a surprised expression. Admitted if you were working in this establishment as long as she did sometimes you started to think that ramen was at least tried by everyone once.

"No never, I didn't even hear of it; until Naruto-Sensei told me to try it." He looked at his bowl; it was empty which was sad since he waned more but the more he wanted more the more he realized he was stuffed. "I'm glad I did try it because it was really good, thank you." He said with a smile.

Naruto looked around the stall but there was something bugging him but he just couldn't figure it out. Then it whacked him in the head. "Hey Ayane where's your old man? Doesn't he always work with you?" He asked her.

"Sorry Naruto I suppose nobody told you dad retired a few weeks after you left for your Jounin exams." She explained thinking back. "He said he was getting to old to be running a ramen stand and went home to try and start a ramen stand chain across the country."

"Then why was he here last night?" He asked a little distressed with the image of last night clear in his mind.

"He came back just to congratulate you on your promotion and because he hadn't seen you in a long time." She said happily with a smile. She enjoyed working with her father for the years that she did; it paid well and the benefits weren't bad considering she worked for her father.

Although it sounded simple enough; Naruto was very saddened to hear that he would never see the good old man, who served him the best ramen he'd ever have would almost never be there, to serve him such food again. "That sucks." Naruto said downed a bit. "Well I guess the old man couldn't have worked forever." He smiled.

During this time Amane was paying attention to everything that was said. He learned a bit from the Jounin and he wanted to use that knowledge to gain knowledge. More like trying to make Naruto to pay special attention and give special training to him. If anything Amane wanted to make the most of everyday to attain his goals; nothing should be wasted.

"Naruto-sensei?" Amane addressed him with a serious and much less sheepish look. "How should we prepare for your test tomorrow?" The question brought the small ramen stand to an all stop. Only the sound of the boiling water was heard.

Naruto had been once again been caught off guard; he hadn't prepared anything or was known he expected too. "I didn't say anything about any test Amane." Naruto responded looking a bit confused.

"But as a squad leader you would obviously want to know what your people were capable of before going off on a mission." Amane said rhetorically but still as serious as before. "If I were in you opinion that would be something I would want to know before causing the death of my squad and failure of a mission that could be crucial to the survival of the hidden leaf village." That statement stung Naruto pretty hard; at that moment he realised that this task would be much more important than he originally thought.

"I suppose your right." Naruto laughed although only half genuine. "So yes I will be testing your combat abilities encase any of you were unsure." Saying this Naruto knew he'd have to make up some test right away or at least a location that would satisfy Amane before he figured out he hadn't planned on anything. Sometimes Naruto wished he could just tell the truth to spite his overgrown ego.

Naruto was going to wing this but, then an interesting idea popped into his head. He remembered back when he was still a Genin learning under Kakashi-sensei. Kakashi had used the Bell test on him, Sakura, and Sasuke. It was ideal for evaluating and creating unit cohesion. Naruto couldn't think of any other test that would not only examine his band of Genin but also amuse him to see their failures when they tried to get that damn bell he never managed to retrieve from Kakashi on his own. But anyway the Bell Test was his answer in this tight situation.

"For the test of tomorrow pack everything you would need on a C-class mission." He paused slightly before readdressing them "Kunai and all." Then he realised he just had to put the icing on the cake it would be so enjoyable to have a blast from the past but from a friendly position well atleast to him. "-And don't eat anything in the morning, unless you wanna puke your guts out." He warned and was only two thirds happy Amane didn't buy it but Amane shrugged anyway acknowledging him.

Rai was the first one to ask a question; raising his hand as eagerly as he'd always been. "Naruto-sensei? Are we going to do some cool ninja fighting test or something boring?"

Naruto simply looked at him and said "It will be really cool." For Naruto anyway he laughed a bit at his own deviousness and he learned that he liked to tease these Genin.

Asuka then lifted her own hand in a delicate but fluid manner. "Is it possible to fail this test?" She asked with a curious tone and in an instant Rai's expression turned to dread. He never thought about a pass or failing test ever since he graduated.

This question took Naruto off guard again he knew he hadn't thought that far, but then he realised that if he didn't put up any pressure, then they wouldn't try hard enough, and he knew the harder you tried the more stupid you looked that was from experience. So with a paused thought "Yes." And now Naruto knew he had to get away before they managed to think of other brilliant questions.

"Well that's all I'm going to answer." Naruto said getting up and beginning to leave. He turned back to them once more. "Be at the nine tails memorial at eight tomorrow morning." He smiled.

Soon after, Naruto payed for the meal, and they all left. Amane and Rai walked with each other. Asuka and Naruto took their own separate ways with each one in deep thought with tomorrows' events.

* * *

Alone; Asuka quietly walked home thinking about tomorrow. 'Is this test Naruto-Sensei has for us going to be that bad that we'll end up throwing up if we eat?' she wondered with all her thought. If she screwed up tomorrow and didn't pass his test he'd given them then she would lose status in her clan. By all means that wasn't acceptable; failure was not an option.

"Hey Asuka!" Someone behind her called out. It was her best friend Earia chasing after her. She had been running on all fours but that was normal since she seemed to have been born with the instincts of a cat. Proof of this existed on her head as she had delicate cat ears and nails like claws. Her hair was a very colorful purple and suited her blue turtleneck and matching skirt well. She also wore a fishnet body suit along her body. "Mind if I join you?" She offered with a smile.

"Of course." She agreed returning a smile.

"I heard you got stuck with Amane and Rai; how's it feel to be stuck with an Idiot and a lazy guy?" She asked laughing a bit.

"We'll I can't say for sure." She laughed aswell mimicking her friend. "I haven't really had a chance but its going to be nice having a monopoly on Amane." She sighed happily slightly drifting off into a dream world.

"Oh common the guy's lazy and too opinionated its like he's got his opinion on everything." She said a bit annoyed with hey friend's crush.

"So what? He's smart, he's cute and most of all; my father would agree with me dating him." She sighed happily again like as if her whole world was twisting around the sun that was her crush.

"Oh common Asuka your dad would let anybody date you as long as they brought something nice to the table; remember that I had to agree to help you to clean up the entire main house to at least come in to your clan's compound?" She tried to remind her. "I think he's crazy selfish to force us to clean up the house like he did." She snickered.

"It's not his fault you know. My clan is a strict meritocracy we drive for success and benefits of that success. Gosh how many times have I reminded you?" That was rhetoric but Earia didn't catch that.

"Until I remember, I guess we'll never know." She teased with her tongue hanging out. Asuka rolled her eyes.

"Oh by the way, what about you? I didn't hear about your team." Asuka raised the question also changing the subject where she could pick on Earia.

* * *

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" Rai had entered his home while waving Amane off. His home was a small apartment where his parents and he had lived for a long time and it had shown with the numerous beautiful carvings in the wooden wall. He left his footwear at door and rushed inside.

"Hello honey, did you meet your teacher?" His mother turned to greet him. She was dressed in that old blue gown she always wore and her long purple hair complimented that. Despite being his mother she was quite young as well.

"Yeah mom; he was really cool he treated me and my friends to ramen at Ichiraku's. Ramen" He said with a lot of enthusiasm.

His mother was surprised. "How was the ramen?" She asked even knowing the answer was plain on his face.

"It was really good I think I love ramen!" He shouted his opinion. His mother was happy that he was happy and that was all she wanted. "Mom," He caught her attention again. "Why don't we ever eat ramen?" He asked with a sincere yet confused look.

She smiled and said. "Well, when we moved here me and your father never liked it, so we never bought it to eat and I guess we completely forgot about letting you try it." She responded when Rai was like this he ate up information like a wet towel. "But if you want we can get you some ramen from now on." She offered.

"Thanks mom!" He was happy enough to run over and hug her tightly his mother had felt very happy to have pleased her son.

* * *

Amane was sleeping; at least he wasn't asleep in any random place, he was home and how comfortable it was. The main house of his small clan's compound was built out of the strongest wood around and each board of the wall had a painting from each member drawn onto it as if to leave an impression and mark on the world from after death.

It was so beautiful that it inspired each member of the clan to be ad vide painters. Although the paintings only served purpose by reminding the clan of its great and worst members; painting in the Kudara clan had nothing to do with special jutsu or anything, it was just a culture thing, something to inspire the young and remind the old.

Amane had been sleeping on the couch as per usual, he liked his naps after a hard days work. It always freshened the mind and allowed him to consider his choices while sleeping on them aswell. He drew a lot of comfort from that.

He sat up and opened his groggily eyes. He saw his father sitting in his grandmasters chair reading a good novel in front of a fire. "Ah you're awake Amane." His father noticed his waking but Amane tended to wake at the exact time everyday as if subconsciously it would kill him to wake up a minute late or soon.

"Hey dad…" He rubbed his eyes quickly regaining his posture sitting up.

"How did it go?" The man set the novel down and leaned forth towards him; physically speaking he had nothing else more important than his son.

"Good." Amane responded quickly. "…Except I tried to act all formal and let my guard down; that got me a pie to the face." His father laughed a bit.

"I don't suppose you got Naruto Uzamaki as a teacher then." He guessed with full confidence. Amane was surprised.

"Yes I did." He was all puzzled. "How did you know?"

"Let's just say I know him personally." His father hinted with a smile.

"I suppose that means you respect him." Amane deducted.

"As sharp as ever, my son." He complemented. "Yes I do infact respect Naruto; let's just say he's earned every ounce of respect from me. To think; that village troublemaker would save this village more then a few times. Boy do I regret resenting him when he was so young and laughably irritating." His father was rambling without explaining anything and he knew that it annoyed Amane more then ever.

"Dad, common you're not being consistent at all." His annoyed tone was music to his father's ears. He'd always try to annoy his son it was something unexplainable but something he enjoyed.

"We'll I guess it doesn't matter anyway." He smiled with success but now his facial expression was grim. "How's the heart Amane?" He asked with a serious tone. One minute he'd been red happy and now almost instantly he was blue cold.

"Its fine dad." Amane informed him half annoyed by his asking.

"Amane; you know how bad I'd feel if the same event that happened with Rai, happens when there is nobody to help you." He reminded.

"Yes dad, that's why I'm telling you I'm fine otherwise you'd worry too much."

* * *

After plenty of girl talk between Asuka and Earia she returned home in a good mood. But home often ruined her mood.

Inside past the strong wooden gate, the courtyard had been laid with stone and very little vegetation, although a line of trees made a symmetrical path to the main compound and split off into other directions witch all their final destinations were within sprinting distance. It was small relative to most other compounds and was stripped bare of all expression. The buildings were practically perfectly built and were always being maintained for one thing or another as they too were perfectly symmetrical in design. If seen from a birds eye view, the compound would resemble the claw of a hawk.

One of the most distinguishing facts was she always saw all her cousins uncle's and other relatives training hard and even beyond hard, to the point where they trained until they collapsed from exhaustion. The training was intense and it required every drop of will power and strength at the persons use. It was all for the good of the clan the individual didn't matter. The weak were suppressed and the strong were placed in charge. It's the way it worked for her clan. Those who failed at being a ninja or disgraced the clan were kept there against their free will to replace the often broken stone tiles that gave structure to the training area.

It was slightly depressing but it always reminded Asuka of her growing pride as she watched one of her cousin's defeat another; soon she felt she would be taking place of one of the two. But she'd been told before how much her potential would change the lowly stature of her clan. She wanted it to happen to make her family and everyone else in her clan happy and have a chance at rest and relaxation without the constant fear that they would be eternally be the one of the lowest clans. It was a fear that was struck in the heart of their meritocracy.

Asuka reminded herself to hurry up and report to her father about the days events before he gave her another lecture at the top of his lungs like he normally did. It wasn't pleasant but it got the message across all the time.

Once she arrived at his office, she realized that the many open diplomatic rooms were unoccupied and silent. Often times they were all busy with grand discussions and political debate but not now, it was strangely uncomforting as well.

Asuka finally knocked on her father's office door, fallowed swiftly with a ‟Come in." from her father's familiar voice. She entered in his office without delay and took a seat in front of his desk. The room was only decorated with the simplest things to avoid distraction and even sometimes inspiration.

Her father stood at the window just taking in the sights of the village from his high perch. When he felt his daughter's presence he turned around with a smile. His face had been inviting like a father's should to his child. Asuka's father had been old; his age was showing in his hair in which the top of his head looked like I could use a wig or two. However the man didn't look horribly old and looked entirely capable of holding his own in a battle. But his body expression more then told that he was passed his prime…

"Asuka, congratulations on you success" her old man said taking a teak at his desk and pointing at the seat directly ahead of him for her to sit down with him.

"Thank you father; I did it for the good of the clan." Her speech was formal and very business lady like.

"Very well done Asuka, the plan is now set in motion and this clan, and old band of the most witted traders that have ever existed will become a major part of the leaf village." In a way the man was stroking his own ego with those words but he came back into focus. "Asuka, I'm interested, whom is your teacher?" Asuka sensed that this question was explosive from her father's expression and tone of voice.

"Naruto Uzamaki is my sensei; father." With that a slight change in her father's smile had occurred and Asuka knew that even if he was smiling; it was just a face like during a game of cards were one hides his hand from the other.

"I see…" That smile hung 'lifeless' as she would describe later on to her close friends. "In that case you are dismissed my daughter." At this point she knew her father was severely upset but she had started to leave anyway and had only waved goodbye through the crack of the door.

* * *

Naruto was tired; he'd had a long day. Not only did he have to start taking care of a bunch of Genin but he'd exhausted his funds once again, that meal he paid at Ichiraku's more then ate his wallet, and he found it extremely annoying that he'd hardly have a meal paid for him back in his youth. He was starting to understand why he didn't get meals paid for by adults back then as often.

'Oh well.' He thought. The day was over and he'd managed to get some bells for tomorrow's event from a general store that he was sure overcharged him, but sadly that was the only source of bell's around so it was that or nothing.

Holding up his wallet for a better look while slouching on his bed; Naruto felt the sad emptiness that his wallet showed. He stared at it for a minute wishing the pouch still had a nice 'cash' sound to it, but no such luck, finally in disgust he threw lightly at the wall, and managed to miss. Out the window the wallet went.

"Ow" Said the wallet (if it could) hitting an unseen obstacle that said the same.

Naruto jumped to his feet with his kunai at the ready. "Who's there?" He demanded.

The strange figures stepped from the shadows revealing its face. "Is that any way to teach your sensei? Naruto?" It was Kakashi with Naruto's wallet smacked in the middle of the jounin's covered nose.

"Kakashi- Sensei?" Naruto was dead surprised and he relaxed his grip on the kunai. "What are you doing here?"

"I was stopping by on my way to another mission and figured I might stop to say "hello" but instead I got his by your wallet." The older jounin had said lazily but smug as always. Naruto laughed embarrassingly. "I heard you hit the ranks of jounin and you've already got your own bunch of genin."

"Yeah Tsunade stuck them on me as soon as I got back and I really wanted to be doing some A class missions" Naruto complained.

Kakashi reached for his back pouch and held something in his hands "Well then looks like I've got a gift for your promotion there Naruto." He said while tossing something at him that sung in the air.

Bells, that's what it was, the very bells that Naruto had chased from Kakashi a couple of times with the help of his old genin squad. Upon realisation of what the gift had been Naruto had smiled at the memories they brought back. "Thanks Kakashi sensei, this is the best." Naruto said smile. At that moment Kakashi felt proud; his little super obnoxious genin had grown all up.

"I figured you might want them since it's your time to train up a bunch of crazy annoying kids that will drive you crazy with requests of training." Kakashi had spoke with both experience and had slightly mocked Naruto at the same time. "By the way; those bells were given to me by your father so take care of them."

"Really? Thanks Kakashi this means so much to me." Naruto said almost trying to hold back a tear of joy.

"Well then I'm off Naruto good luck with the genin" and Kakashi meant it. After that the old jounin went off into the night to who knows where to do a mission.

After he was gone, Naruto realized something. "Wait, what am I going to do with the other bells!?!"

A/N This chapter was a bitch to write, all that development out of the way and now to write the much (and I mean much) funner chapter 4. I expect it to have it out much sooner then the last one. Although I'm just glad I managed to finish this long bastard.


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